Scope and Contents

The collection holds a set of documents compiled by the New York City Commission on the Bicentennial of the Constitution for donation to New-York Historical. The contents are primarily publicity material and ephemera: press kit; event invitations, tickets, programs and scripts; pins, paperweight, stationery, and other memorabilia; brochures; and historical images. The principal events represented are the arrival ceremony of the president at South Street Seaport, "The Presidency in the '90s" symposium, presidential flotilla, fireworks display, service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Chapel, and inaugural ceremony at Federal Hall. There are also 5 pieces written for the Commission by historian Richard B. Bernstein that provide historical context to Washington's inauguration and the celebration of it. There is an item level inventory stored with the collection. The collection does not hold any of the records or other internal organizational documentation concerning the Washington commemoration or of the Commission itself.